HR1319

LRB095 21475 KXB 51013 r






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HOUSE RESOLUTION


 
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    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of 
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Representatives are pleased to congratulate the staff of the 
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Furst-McNess Company on the 100th anniversary of the 
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agribusiness and consumer goods institution; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Frank E. Furst, an attorney and the son of 
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pioneers to Stephenson County, and Frederick W. McNess, a 
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pharmacist and transplant to Freeport from Ohio, combined their 
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talents to a singular and novel business concept in 1908 with 
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the founding core values of quality, safety, and innovation, 
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epitomized in the first self-regulating policy of sanitary 
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safety seals on every product and instituted decades before any 
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government regulation required they ensure the integrity of 
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their products and offer this added layer of protection for 
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their customers; and

 
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    WHEREAS, The confidence of these two founders who came of 
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age as entrepreneurs in an industrial town was mirrored by 
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local investors, salesmen, and customers, the farm-to-farm 
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direct sales company that started on $21,000 became one of 
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Freeport's most prominent industries, known for its extracts 
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and spices (and its premium ingredients, including Madagascar 
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vanilla beans), and entered the international stage almost 
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immediately after its founding; and

 
 


 






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    WHEREAS, The Furst-McNess Company moved to the Sunlight 
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Laboratory in 1919, undertook a 60,000 square-foot expansion of 
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in 1929 (the year the stock market crashed) and another 60,000 
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square-foot expansion in 1948, and completed a nearly $2 
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million renovation of the building on Clark Street in 1980; and

 
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    WHEREAS, An early commitment to quality, safety, and 
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innovation has consistently been manifested over 100 years with 
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the development of a new tablet making process during World War 
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II to supply the U.S. Army with vanilla tablets, to eliminate 
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the vice of vanilla extract and its alcohol content in war 
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zones, and won the Freeport manufacturer the majority of war 
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contracts because of its efficient tablet making, producing 
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nearly one billion vanilla tablets during World War II, which 
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became an export business when the government sold its 
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surpluses; the themes of quality, safety, and innovation have 
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consistently recurred, when the company launched its vitamin 
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and mineral premixes in 1958, and was one of the first to 
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develop computerized programs for ration-balancing in the 
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1980s; and

 
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    WHEREAS, The Furst-McNess Company acquired Miracle Feeds 
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in 1992 from John Labatt Limited to become a North-American 
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based, multinational company with offices in London, Ontario, 
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and with the knitting together of two organizations, became a 
 


 






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niche market player in the distribution of ethanol and biofuel 
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residuals, for the first time offering livestock producers a 
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complete feed (vitamin and mineral premixes, along with 
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commodities), and now is a beacon in the agribusiness industry, 
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with a vision for helping to build sustainable models in 
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agriculture; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Following the success of its production of Spike 
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O'Dell's Bite Your Butt Mustard, a collaboration with the 
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Mustard Museum in Mt. Horeb, Wis., the Furst-McNess Company 
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returned to its roots in the consumer goods industry in 1997 
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when it unveiled the Terrapin Ridge line of gourmet condiments, 
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including Wasabi Lime mustard before wasabi products had been 
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incorporated into American foods; manufacturing continued in 
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the consumer goods vein with products sold under the McNess 
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trademark, and with private label production for two Fortune 
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500 companies; and

 
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    WHEREAS, With the acquisition of the family business, Aero 
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Group in 2003, the company showed its committed to technology 
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as a core value, and now offers broadband and Voice Over 
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Internet Phone Services (VOIP), as well as computer networking 
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for commercial and business clients; and

 
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    WHEREAS, The family business has entered its fourth 
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generation, maintaining its headquarters in Freeport and 
 


 






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giving back to the local community in each generation, and has 
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survived the trials of history over the course of one century 
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because of its commitment to enduring values of quality, 
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safety, and innovation, and its adaptability to changing 
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marketplaces in new eras; therefore, be it




 
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    RESOLVED, BY THE  HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 
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NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we 
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congratulate the staff of the Furst-McNess Company of Freeport 
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on the 100th anniversary; and be it further

 
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    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 
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presented to Martha Furst, President and CEO of the FurstMcNess 
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Company, as a symbol of our esteem.